# US 10,307,859 B2 · Joint part determination method and joint material manufacturing method

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- Number: US 10,307,859 B2
- Document ID: US10307859B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/516,831
- Filed: 2015-09-09
- Published: 2017-09-21
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2014-10-10
- Assignees: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd.
- Applicants: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd.
- Inventors: Yoshinori Kato; Kazushige Yamasu
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10307859B2

## CPC

- B23K 20/12: the heat being generated by friction; Friction welding
- B23K 20/1265: {Non-butt welded joints, e.g. overlap-joints, T-joints or spot welds}
- B23K 31/125: {Weld quality monitoring}
- G01N 29/043: {in the interior, e.g. by shear waves}
- G01N 29/06: Visualisation of the interior, e.g. acoustic microscopy {(medical or veterinary diagnosis using sonic waves A61B8/00; representation of acoustic wave distribution G01H3/125, G01H9/002; short-range imaging systems using reflection of acoustic waves G01S15/8906)}
- G01N 29/44: Processing the detected response signal {, e.g. electronic circuits specially adapted therefor (digital signal processing per se G06F17/00)}
- G01N 29/4445: {Classification of defects}
- B23K 31/003: {relating to controlling of welding distortion}
- G01N 2291/267: Welds
- B23K: SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)

## Abstract

A method includes the following: an incidence step in which ultrasonic waves from an insertion side and the side opposite thereto of a tool are caused to be incident on a joint part when a workpiece is joined by the tool that has a probe and a shoulder which supports the probe and that is for friction stir welding; an image acquisition step for obtaining an ultrasonic wave transmission image of the joint part using the ultrasonic waves; and a determination step for determining that the joint part has been joined if width-dimensions of the joint part obtained from the ultrasonic wave transmission image are equivalent to at least the outer diameter d of the probe and if no defect of a prescribed size or greater is found in a range equivalent to the outer diameter D of the shoulder or less in the ultrasonic wave transmission image.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A joint part determination method, comprising:
an incidence step of causing ultrasonic waves to be incident to a joint part from a side opposite to an insertion side of a probe in the joint part when a workpiece formed by stacking members is joined by a tool for friction stir welding which includes the probe which is inserted into the workpiece and a shoulder which supports the probe;
an image acquisition step of obtaining an ultrasonic wave transmission image of the joint part by the ultrasonic waves; and
a determination step of determining that the joint part is joined in a case where a width dimension of the joint part obtained by the ultrasonic wave transmission image is equal to or more than an outer diameter of the probe and no joint defect of a predetermined size or more is found within a range equal to or less than an outer diameter of the shoulder in the ultrasonic wave transmission image.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The joint part determination method according to claim 1,
wherein in the determination step, it is determined that the joint part is joined in a case where no joint defect of the predetermined size or more is found within a range which is equal to or more than the outer diameter of the probe in the ultrasonic wave transmission image and is equal to or less than the outer diameter of the shoulder.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The joint part determination method according to claim 1,
wherein in the determination step, it is determined that the joint part is joined in a case where the maximum dimension of the joint defect when the joint defect is viewed in a direction intersecting an insertion direction of the probe is 0.2 times or less of a plate thickness of the member of the workpieces on the insertion side of the probe.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The joint part determination method according to claim 1,
wherein in the incidence step, the ultrasonic waves are incident to a surface of the workpiece at an incident angle of 0°.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The joint part determination method according to claim 1,
wherein the determination step includes a correction step of correcting a size of the joint defect obtained from the ultrasonic wave transmission image using a ratio between the outer diameter of the probe and an inner diameter of a drawing-out hole of the probe in the workpiece obtained from the ultrasonic wave transmission image.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A joint material manufacturing method, comprising:
a joining step of joining a workpiece formed by stacking members using friction stir welding; and
the joint part determination method according to claim 1 which is applied to a joint part after the workpiece is joined.